Montana: FEMA DR-1996-MT BIllings & Miles City!

I was deployed by FEMA to Montana following a disaster declaration for spring floods as the Community Relations Field Specialist Lead for Yellowstone County, based in Billings. If you've ever wondered what a FEMA Community Relations Field Specialist does, we're essentially the "eyes and ears" of FEMA in the field, meeting with disaster survivors, Emergency Managers, elected and appointed officials, and representatives of schools, religious organizations, community based organizations, and businesses, explaining how disaster assistance works and how to apply. I began working for FEMA in 1998, in Region 2 (NY, NJ, PR & VI), when I lived in NYC, and I now work in Region 3, which includes West Virginia, as we moved to WV in 2002. I've worked in a lot of places, including PR (Hurricane Georges & floods), VI (Hurricane Lenny), LA (Hurricanes Katrina and Rita), New York (upstate and in NYC after 9/11), Michigan, Indiana, and Florida, but I'd never spent any time in Montana before, and this deployment gave me the opportunity to discover at least a bit of the magic and grandeur of that incredible state! I flew into Helena and then drove to Billings, and the scenery on the way was so incredible that I literally pulled the car over repeatedly to snap photos with my Blackberry! (I also pulled over because I am not used to driving straight-as-an-arrow roads for hours at a stretch, and I get "glazed"!) As readers of this blog know, unlike my husband, I was not "born to drive". I got my license at the ripe old age of 42, and while I drive as little as possible at home, when I'm on the road for FEMA as a Community Relations Field Specialist I essentially live in my car for weeks on end! When I turn on the ignition- EVERY time I turn on the ignition- I make a little prayer, for G-d to please, B"H, get me safely through my deployment, and home, safe and healthy, into to the arms of my husband! I do NOT take driving lightly! Happily for me, Montana has lots of nice, wide roads with roomy "shoulders" to pull off onto!
It took me 17 hours of flights to get to Helena, Montana, and I went right to work the next day. Once I got to Billings, I spent two weeks living and working out of my room at the Super 8, and while not the snazziest place in town, the staff was very helpful and very nice, and that makes a HUGE difference! Our hours were 7-7, and on my first day off I literally didn't leave the motel room- I was That pooped! My next day off, a week later, coincided with the last day of the "Crow PowWow" on the Crow Agency, and I had to go! "Crow County" is famous for having more teepees than anywhere else, and it is a pretty fabulous thing to see! It was 110 degrees in the shade, but there was ice-cold lemonade and ice coffee to be had, as well as "Indian Tacos" on fry bread, and the dancing, drum circles, singing and fabulous costumes made it well worthwhile! A special event at the PowWow was a ceremony to honor women US millitary veterans, and their very special guest of honor was a US Navy NCO just back from her tour in Afghanistan. 

Crow Drum Circle

Honor Guard

Crow Indian dancing...

Crow Indian dancing...

Crow Indian PowWow



Crow Festival Dancing

Crow Honor Guard

Crow Agency Teepees

Custer Museum, Garryown, MT

I then drove to Garryowen and found the amazing Custer Museum, which has an incredible collection of Custer and Indian artifacts, uniforms, memorabilia, and paintings, AND adjoins a gas station and store serving gourmet French Roast coffee!

From there I drove to the Little Big Horn Battlefield, and while I didn't have time to really explore it, as I wanted to be back at the hotel before dark (lest I hit a deer on the highway...), at least I got to see the Veterans Cemetery, and wander among the tombstones, many of which mark the graves of Indian Scouts and their wives- a poignant and fascinating slice of history, in a beautiful place... I got caught in a bit of an electrical storm out on the prairie that was a bit spooky, but I got back to the Super 8 at dusk- bone tired!- but SO glad I went! The one thing that made me blue was that Dan wasn't with me to enjoy it all and share it and teach me stuff about what I was looking at! US Army Retired, he is a history buff of the first stripe, and everything I saw would have been 100000% more interesting and meaningful if he had been with me!

Indian Scout, buried with his wife...

Indian Scout, buried with his wife...



Little Big Horn Veteran's Cemetery

The Western Heritage Center in downtown Billings is a truly great museum; oral history is its forte, and it's fascinating to sit and listen to the stories of Montana's settlers...

Montana Beer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clark's Graffiti...

Custer camped here!

Horse that I love...

Supper Club, Miles City

Livestock at the Livestock Center

Painting a watercolor somewhere in Montana..

Effective... :-)

Pictographs

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Art at the Women's Prison

The other thing I like to do when I get deployed someplace new is go shopping- especially thrift shopping! Dan and I always find cool things in thrift shops, and we feel good about "repurposing" stuff and having our money do good things for the charities that run them. Among my Billings "scores":  5 new-with-tag $30+ Bali, Olga, and Vanity Fair bras for $2 each, a fabulous new Land's End winter coat for $9, and a Gorgeous pair of new Joneswear violet suede slacks for $2!
Among my fave thrift shops in Billings:
Family Services, Inc.: 1824 1st Ave. North
Society of St. Vincent dePaul:
MRM Bargain Center: 21 S. 29 St.
I love pawn shops, antique, and resale shops, too, and these are some of my Billings faves:
Yellowstone Pawn and Trade (2111 Grand Ave.) Crow beadwork, Indian silver, teepees- this place is part store and part museum!
                   another great pawn shop-cum-museum in Downtown Billings
                   a Great clothing resale place
Yesteryears Antiques (102 N 29th St.) is amazing- tons of fabulous, vintage Western things from ceramics to glassware, to quilts, to toys, to cowboy hats! If you can't find something you want badly in there, there's no hope! LOL (I found a 1917 postcard of Gen. Pershing, Pancho Villa & Patton for my history buff hubs, and a 1950s Billings hotel ashtray with a peeing dog that made me laugh!)
I love "real" stores, too, and because I live in Extremely Rural West Virginia where there aren't any, I only get to shop in them when I'm deployed!  My friend Sue (who I know from 'another life' decades ago when we both lived in Germany) lives in Wyoming- a "mere" two hours' drive from from Billings- and she drove up with her daughter and we did that thing friends do when they get together: go to the mall! I hadn't been in a "real" mall with "real" stores in a LONG time, and I must have seemed like a real country bumpkin as I fondled fabulous and fancy Steve Madden stilettos (this season's shoes, as opposed to last year's on eBay! LOL) and oohed-and-ahhed over bras in Victoria's Secret!
My fave Billings shops:
Lou Taubert http://loutaubert.com/index.php A staple of Billings since 1919 for Western gear, Taubert's has THE most fabulous Western clothes and boots... and great sales! (I scored a gorgeous Pendleton "blanket edged" skirt for $30!)
Praire Blossom http://www.prairieblossoms.com/ sells made-in-Montana art, craft, gifts, jewelry, and yummy jams and sauces- I scored a horn-handled steak flipper & fishing lure tietack for Dan, and Montana "flattop cherry" and huckleberry jam & syrups which should be Great with vodka! :-)
Barjon's Books http://barjonsbooks.com/ has a great selection of books on alternative medicine, as well as herbs, oils, incense, candles, crystals, and art. And yes, I hit TJMaxx, too, and Hobby Lobby for watercolors, so I could go out and paint the prairie!

I also love, as you know, to eat:
THE absolute BEST restaurant I ate at in Billings was, without a doubt Cafe DeCamp : 1404 6th Ave. N, Billings, MT 59101  Tel: 406.256.7285 I like them on Facebook and you should, too! Their Emu Picatta Crepe is a totally delicious thing of which foodie dreams are made, and I drool at the mere thought of it! It was SO good that I took photos with my cell phone and emailed them to Chef Dan!! Everything they make is not only totally gourmet-delicious, it's locally sourced, natural and organic,  from the bison to the emu to the wild mushrooms to the wine, and I had lunch there as often as I could!

Emu Picatta Crepe- SO WONDERFUL!

Other yummy places to enjoy in Billings:
The Farmers Market in downtown Billings every summer Friday from 8 - noon is Great fun- music, food, coffee, fresh lemonade, fabulous, farm-fresh veggies and ranch-raised meats, homemade jams, sauces, and honey...

Hudderite Girls at the Market

McCormick Cafe 2419 Montana Ave., in downtown Billings (they make a Great hamburger with avocado slices and thick, crispy bacon!)
Siam Thai 3210 Henesta Drive (Excellent soft shell crab!)
Asian Sea Grill 1911 King Ave West (Expensive but Very good sushi)
Lemongrass 2695 King Ave East (delicious and very reasonably priced Thai food, in a lovely, elegant setting)

After several weeks in Billings I was deployed to Miles City, and had the great good fortune to stay at Yellowstone Bluffs Bed-and-Breakfast.

Not only were Dick and Pat Wiseman wonderful hosts who truly made me welcome in their beautiful "Beach Suite" guest room (with a magnificent view) and delicious breakfasts each morning, but their patio overlooking the Yellowstone River was SO gorgeous that on my day off I didn't go anywhere- I simply sat on their patio with my watercolors and an endless cup of coffee and painted the view all day long until it was too dark to see! 

The "Beach Suite"

My "Beach Suite" view!

While in Miles City, my coworker and I got to enjoy some GREAT steaks in several classic, Montana steak Houses: Montana Rib and Chop House (GREAT USA Kobe beef steaks!), The Iron Horse Supper Club (excellent steaks, and right on the tracks of the old train station), Club 519 in the historic 1910 First National Bank building, and The Montana Bar downtown on 612 Main Street!

Vulcan, Canada, MT & ND: Crashing a National Park, Chasing Trains, THE Big Cow, & Fargo Fine Food!

And now back, again to our road trip back from British Columbia, Canada to West Virginia! 
When I wrote the blogpost on Alberta, Canada, I neglected one short but Very Important stop: Vulcan, the Official Star Trek City of Canada!  While not named for Mr. Spock's home planet (the town was named by a surveyor for the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1915 after the Roman God of Fire- Vulcan- and originally all the streets were named after gods and goddesses of the classical world such as Juno, Mars, and Jupiter), the town had the great, good sense to capitalize on Star Trek, and is now known primarily for that! Vulcan has a Star Trek themed Tourism and Trek Station, a replica of the Starship Enterprise, and hosts "Spock Days", drawing visitors from around the world! We made a bit of a detour to get there, and unfortunately the museum was closed by the time we arrived, but at least we got to see a bit of Vulcan, and hopefully we will Live Long and Prosper! 

Elisse sez: "Live Long & Prosper!"

Sunset on Vulcan...

Driving south and east, we stopped in Glasgow, Montana at Sam's Supper Club, for a nice dinner; Sam's was packed with happy regulars and very obviously THE place to eat in Glasgow!

Happy Dan at Sam's!

We began our short time in Glendive, Montana being checked into the Comfort Inn by a super-nice gal...  And being checked out by a total psycho with attitude. Pregnant one, with a pierced eye and lip to go along with her bad attitude, apparently a Choice Hotel Staff Tradition. We had our door banged on at 8:23a.m. by cleaning staff. Then our wake-up call at 8:30a.m. Then Another banging on the door at 9a.m., followed by a call from the front desk at 9:30a.m., reminding us that check out was at 11a.m., at which point I said “We got the message- you want us out! We got it!” Checking out we got an earful of ugliness from Ms. Piercings, along with someone else’s bill. When I got to the truck and realized I had the wrong bill, I returned to the desk; finding no one there, I went looking in the back offices, only to be greeted by a screaming Ms. Piercings, now yelling how the Manager was in Florida (“I already told her about you!” she screeched. What, pray tell, did she say? That we paid money to be abused by her?) when I demanded to see her. This loveliness culminated in her actually threatening to call the police (“Please do!” was my response), if I didn't give her back the other guest's bill she had mistakenly given me, and was followed by even MORE nastiness! What a lovely send-off... (This bit of delightfulness was included in our letter to the Choice Hotel CEO. We were told we'd be getting a call from the hotel and an apology. We're still waiting).

At Sleeping Buffalo Rock, Malta, Montana

We stopped at the Great Plains Dinosaur Museum & Field Station in Malta, Montana, where we got to see and touch fossils and dino bones dug up right in Malta's backyard! We spent quite a while at the museum, and interested the lady who showed us the exhibits in Homer Hickam's book The Dinosaur Hunter...
We then perused all the exhibits at the excellent Phillips County Museum next door, which shows how pioneers, cowboys, and Indians worked and played through tools, toys, instruments, clothing, furniture, and historic photographs, as well as life-size replicas of a cowboy bunkhouse, a one-room schoolhouse, church, and mercantile. They have special exhibit on their native outlaw celebrity, Kid Curry, who began his "outlaw career" in 1894 by shooting 'Pike' Landusky, and then going on, with his gang, The Wild Bunch, to commit more crimes in Phillips County, including a train robbery west of Malta in 1901.
We also stopped at Sleeping Buffalo Rock in Malta, Montana, which reposes in its corral under a shed at the junction of US 2 and MT 243. It is an old rock indigenous to the area, part of a group of boulders that the local Indians held sacred. People often leave coins or tobacco as offerings. Roadside America which is what the link goes to) has some interesting info about it:  "Sleeping Buffalo Rock was found by my grandfather when he was a young boy while out riding the plains. Kenneth Arnold Ball was born in Saco, MT Jan. 24, 1908 to Nora Jane and George McLearn Ball, whom herded sheep and raised wheat and grasses. Kenneth went to school with Chet Huntley; they were good friends (Chet even states this in his book Boyhood Memories). The rock was actually carved by the Plains Indians and it was a symbol for the buffalo hunt. They would dance around it the night before the hunt as spiritual hope for a good hunt like football players huddle together for a good game.The Rock was placed near the school in representation of both of the boys, Kenneth and Chet". - Nora Mae, 09/20/2010 
Railfans that we are, we chased trains across the plains... and found lots of other cool things, too!

Ha!

Harlem, Montana, Pop 808

One of the things that made us stop and turn around...

And with the owner's permission, Dan, who is US Army Ret. Aviation, and I, got to take a close-up look at her!

Pretty... and good eatin', too! :-)

The Sweet Grass Hills, Browning, Montana

Yes, there are dinos here!

Our next stop was for a nice lunch at Boots Bar & Grill, in the (then closed-due-to-the- idiot-sequester) Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, North Dakota: elk burgers w/sweet potato fires, and a Beaver Beer sampler!

Beaver Beer at Boots Bar!

Dan bought us some local, ND wine in one of the little stores in the Park that was open despite the "sequester", and then Dan and I Broke Obama Law, throwing our lot in with our WWII Vets, and entered the closed-due-to-sequester Painted Canyon Overlook in the National Park, me climbing under a chain and dancing over a RR grating, with Dan following in hot pursuit! We photographed the scenic rocks, and on the way back to the car we saw someone apparently examining our car- we thought we were being ticketed for trespassing, but it was just 2 nice Park employees letting themselves in; the lady even held the gate for me! :-)

Elisse, ballsy as usual...

Driving due east across North Dakota on I95, I'm thumbing though "attractions" on our Garmin, and come up the bright idea of stopping to see Salem Sue, the World's Largest Holstein Cow. As we hit Salem, we also hit Snow, and as we climb the winding hill, on top of which stands Salem Sue, it becomes increasingly apparent that this was Not one of my brighter notions... We make it all the way up there, crawling our truck round and around the steep, snow-slick hill, see Sue, and then Dan oh-so-carefully turns the truck around and down we go...

Snow in Salem, ND...

Salem Sue

Salem Sue, in all her glory...

We drove through Bismark, ND, and had a bit of a rest at Keelboat Park...

Keelboat Park, Bismark, ND

Bismark, ND

Night falls over North Dakota...

and then, as night fell, we
 made for Fargo, knowing a wonderful dinner would await us at HoDo, where we'd had such a fine meal 3 weeks previously. Tonight we were treated to live '60s music on top of a great meal: a bon bouche of pureed iceberg lettuce soup with sturgeon, followed by nori-wrapped yellowtail with a sate sauce, and then short ribs for Dan, and milk-poached scallops and lemon-seared butter tender octopus with a wine sabayon for me! And then a lush chocolate cake with a gently-zingy chipotle pepper sauce. And wine. And scotch. And Dan got to schmooze the chef! And now our freezer of moose meat is hooked up and we're ensconced in a Jacuzzi suite at the Comfort Inn in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.
I know- we're gluttons for punishment. LOL

Another great dinner at HoDos!

Next: Wisconsin Dells: Ducks!